Fire-escape



I (No Model.)

A. J. JOHNSON.

FIRE ESCAPE. No. 286,306. Patented Oct. 9, 1883.

N4 PETERS. Fncm-mho n m Wuh'mgton, 0.6

' UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW J. JOHNSON, OF OUYAHOGA FALLS, OHIO.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 286,306, dated October 9, 1883. Application filed April 23, 1883. (No model.) i I To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that 1, ANDREW J. J onnson, of Ouyahoga Falls, Summit county, Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Escapes, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manner of controlling the speed in unwinding the wire or cord from the reel by means of a governor whose centrifugal force presses afriction-shoe against the inner circumference of a flange on the reel.

In the drawings forming a partof this specification, Figure 1 is a front view with faceplate removed, and Fig. 2 is a section.

Reel a, on which the wire cord is wound, is keyed on shaft and inclosed in case b. Shaft '5 is supported by and rotates in case b, which is formed with a removable face-plate. b, and a suit-able opening, 0, in its circumference, through which the cord passes in unwinding. Reel a has an annular flange, a, on one side, forming a depression or cavity which contains the mechanism for regulating the rotation of the reel. The inner circumference of flange a is toothed, and it is also formed with an annular V-shaped groove, 0. Wheel n turns on a pin, a, supported by face-plate b. Pinion m is attached to spider f, and is loose on shaft The outer ends of the arms of spider f are slotted to receive governors s and support them crosswise of the arms. Wheel a connects the toothed flange a with pinion m and rotates the latter with spider f and governors s in a direction opposite to the rotation of reel a. Governor s is pivoted to the spider-arm at one end, and is weighted with a weight or ball at the other end. It is formed with a nib, s, which enters a notch in shoe 0. The latter fits in the V-shaped annular groove c.

When a person desires to descend from an upper story of a building or other height by means of my herein-described fire-escape, he should first make fast the outer end of the wire cord to some suitable object that will sustain his weight. Then case I) should be strapped to his body through eye h. He may then descend. The rotation of reel a, caused bythe unwinding of the cord, rotates spider f rapidly in the opposite direction, and the centrifiigal force thus developed throws outward governors s, which press shoe e in the annular groove c, and thus by friction of the shoein the groove check the speed in descending.

If preferred, more than one wheel a maybe employed to connect the toothed flange a with pinion m, and as many governors 8 may be used as may be deemed desirable.

The wire cord may be wound 011 reel aby inserting a key in socket w and turning shaft with the reel.

Flange a, may be formed with a cylindrical surface, instead of groove 0, for the shoe 0 to bear against; but the V-shaped groove is deemed preferable.

I claim as my invention 1. The reel (1, formed with a toothed annular flange, a, in combination with easel), shaft ANDREW .T. JOHNSON.

\Vitnesses:

)UR'rIs A. HALL, THos. F. WiLsH. 

